Page 161 - The Freshwater Mussels of Oklahoma

Partial Synonymy:
Quadrula metanevra (Rafinesque, 1820), Simpson 1914; Isely 1925; Murray and
Leonard 1962; Johnson 1980; Branson 1982; Oesch 1984; Turgeon and
others 1988; Vidrine 1993; Watters 1995
Description:
“Shell irregularly rhomboid, more or less inflated, solid, inequilateral; beaks
rather full and high, turned forward over a narrow lunule, their sculpture a few strong,
irregular ridges, which are nodulous on the posterior ridge; posterior ridge elevated,
rounded, separated from the rest of the shell in front and behind by a radial depression;
anterior end rounded; base line straight or incurved behind the middle; dorsal slope
obliquely truncated, the sulcation above the posterior ridge ending in a well-marked
sinus; surface more or less covered with lachrymose knobs or tubercles, a row on the
posterior ridge usually higher; epidermis yellow-green, tawny or brownish, often marked
with small, dark green, triangular patches subshining to dull and rough; pseudocardinals
ragged, two in the left valve and three in the right; laterals short; anterior scars small,
impressed; beak cavities deep, compressed; nacre white, rarely pinkish, greatly thickened
at the anterior base” (Simpson 1914, p 834).
Hosts for Glochidia:
Bluegill, Green Sunfish, Sauger (Watters, 1994).

Table 30. Summary of Q. metanevra shell characters.

Maximum
Mean H/L H/L Range Length Mean W/L W/L Range
Location N (%) (%) (mm) (%) (%)
Arkansas River System
Neosho River 19 77.4 71.3-87.5 107 68.8 57.5-91.1
Verdigris River 18 79.5 75.7-87.4 109 66.4 56.5-78.3
Caney River 2 80.4 79.4-81.3 75 - -

General Distribution:
Upper Mississippi and Great Lakes drainage.
Oklahoma Distribution:
Currently found only in parts of the Verdigris and Neosho Rivers.

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